Methods and apparatus for automated deposit reconciliation
View Patent ↗Methods and apparatus for reconciling bank transactions with stored deposit entries in a practice management system. A plurality of bank transactions received from a bank are processed to select bank deposits from the plurality of bank transactions. A plurality of matching rules are used to automatically match at least some of the selected bank deposits with the stored deposits in the practice management system. A user interface enables a user to review the results of the automatic matching process and to manually match bank deposits to stored deposit entries. The user interface also enables users to reconcile stored deposit entries in the practice management system to bank statements to facilitate the preparation of month-end financial statements.
1. A method of reconciling a plurality of bank transactions with stored deposit entries in a practice management system, the method comprising:
storing a plurality of deposit entries in a practice management system, wherein the plurality of deposit entries identify payment information sent to a bank on behalf of a payer;
receiving from the bank, information describing the plurality of bank transactions;
selecting, with at least one processor, bank deposits from the information describing the plurality of bank transactions;
storing the bank deposits selected from the information describing the plurality of bank transactions as mailbox deposits in the practice management system;
assigning, to each of the mailbox deposits, a category;
automatically matching based, at least in part, on a plurality of rules, at least one of the mailbox deposits to one or more of the plurality of deposit entries stored in the practice management system, wherein the matching is performed based, at least in part, on the category assigned to the at least one of the mailbox deposits; and
displaying a user interface configured to enable a user to identify bank deposits that have been automatically matched to stored deposit entries in the practice management system.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information describing the plurality of bank transactions is received as an electronic file, and
wherein selecting the bank deposits comprises parsing the electronic file to identify the bank deposits based on the content of the plurality of bank transactions in the electronic file.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that at least one of the mailbox deposits does not match any of the stored deposit entries; and
creating at least one new stored deposit entry in the practice management system corresponding to the at least one non-matching mailbox deposit, wherein the at least one new stored deposit entry includes an identifier indicating that the at least one new stored deposit entry is an unposted deposit.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
receiving remittance verification that includes information indicating that the at least one non-matching mailbox deposit should be matched with the at least one new stored deposit entry corresponding to the at least one non-matching mailbox deposit; and
automatically matching, in response to receiving the remittance verification, the at least one non-matching mailbox deposit with the at least one new stored deposit entry corresponding to the at least one non-matching mailbox deposit.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the remittance verification is an electronic remittance advice and/or an explanation of benefits.
6. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
determining that a predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the creation of the at least one new stored deposit entry; and
initiating a manual follow-up procedure when it is determined that remittance verification has not been received during the predetermined amount of time.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of rules comprises a rule configured to identify unmatched customer deposits and/or unmatched electronic funds transfers.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
displaying, on the user interface, at least one unmatched mailbox deposit and at least one unmatched stored deposit entry; and
wherein the user interface is further configured to enable the user to manually match the at least one unmatched mailbox deposit with the at least one unmatched stored deposit entry.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface is further configured to enable the user to reconcile a bank statement with the stored deposit entries in the practice management system.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the user interface is further configured to enable the user to store, on the practice management system, information associated with the bank statement.
11. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with a plurality of computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, perform a method of reconciling a plurality of bank deposits with stored deposit entries in a practice management system, the method comprising:
storing a plurality of deposit entries in a practice management system, wherein the plurality of deposit entries identify payment information sent to a bank on behalf of a payer;
receiving from the bank, information describing the plurality of bank transactions;
selecting bank deposits from the information describing the plurality of bank transactions;
storing the bank deposits selected from the information describing the plurality of bank transactions as mailbox deposits in the practice management system;
assigning, to each of the mailbox deposits, a category;
automatically matching based, at least in part, on a plurality of rules, at least one of the mailbox deposits to one or more of the plurality of deposit entries stored in the practice management system, wherein the matching is performed based, at least in part, on the category assigned to the at least one of the mailbox deposits; and
displaying a user interface configured to enable a user to identify bank deposits that have been automatically matched to stored deposit entries in the practice management system.
12. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the information describing the plurality of bank transactions is received as an electronic file, and
wherein selecting the bank deposits comprises parsing the electronic file to identify the bank deposits based on the content of the plurality of bank transactions in the electronic file.
13. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:
determining that at least one of the mailbox deposits does not match any of the stored deposit entries; and
creating at least one new stored deposit entry in the practice management system corresponding to the at least one non-matching mailbox deposit, wherein the at least one new stored deposit entry includes an identifier indicating that the at least one new stored deposit entry is an unposted deposit.
14. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises:
receiving remittance verification that includes information indicating that the at least one non-matching mailbox deposit should be matched with the at least one new stored deposit entry corresponding to the at least one non-matching mailbox deposit; and
automatically matching, in response to receiving the remittance verification, the at least one non-matching mailbox deposit with the at least one new stored deposit entry corresponding to the at least one non-matching mailbox deposit.
15. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises:
displaying, on the user interface, at least one unmatched mailbox deposit and at least one unmatched stored deposit entry; and
wherein the user interface is further configured to enable the user to manually match the at least one unmatched mailbox deposit with the at least one unmatched stored deposit entry.
16. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the user interface is further configured to enable the user to:
store, on the practice management system, information associated with a bank statement; and
reconcile a bank statement with the stored deposit entries in the practice management system.
17. A computer system, comprising:
at least one processor programmed to:
store a plurality of deposit entries in a practice management system, wherein the plurality of deposit entries identify payment information sent to a bank on behalf of a payer;
receive from the bank, information describing the plurality of bank transactions;
select bank deposits from the information describing the plurality of bank transactions;
store the bank deposits selected from the information describing the plurality of bank transactions as mailbox deposits in the practice management system;
assign, to each of the mailbox deposits, a category;
automatically match based, at least in part, on a plurality of rules, at least one of the mailbox deposits to one or more of the deposit entries stored in the practice management system, wherein the matching is performed based, at least in part, on the category assigned to the at least one of the mailbox deposits; and
display a user interface configured to enable a user to identify bank deposits that have been automatically matched to stored deposit entries in the practice management system.
18. The computer system of claim 17 , wherein the information describing the plurality of bank transactions are received as an electronic file, and
wherein selecting the bank deposits comprises parsing the electronic file to identify the bank deposits based on the content of the plurality of bank transactions in the electronic file.
19. The computer system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to:
display, on the user interface, at least one unmatched mailbox deposit and at least one unmatched stored deposit entry; and
wherein the user interface is further configured to enable the user to manually match the at least one unmatched mailbox deposit with the at least one unmatched stored deposit entry.